The 20/21 Eredivisie season begins this Friday and we will preview the expectations of each Eredivisie club. In this article, we look at RKC Waalwijk.

By far the weakest side in the Eredivisie last season, RKC Waalwijk only managed four wins in 26 games before the campaign was ended early. The club was certain to go down to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie but the KNVB canceled relegation, giving RKC another chance in the top flight.

The club now has to try and fight their way up the table, but do they have enough to stop themselves from finishing bottom once again?

Transfers

A number of loanees departed RKC this summer such as Dylan Vente, Clint Leemans, Emil Hansson and Stanley Elbers. Experienced players Henrico Drost and Darren Maatsen have also left.

Goalkeeper Kostas Lamprou is a good experienced signing, while Vurnon Anita has signed a one-year deal with the club. Cyril Ngonge comes in from Club Brugge to add speed to the attack, while exciting youngster Ayman Azhil is loaned from Bayer Leverkusen.

James Efmorfidis (Almere City), Nicolas Olsak (Maccabi Netanya) and Ahmed Touba (Club Brugge) also come in, while Thierry Lutonda is loaned from Anderlecht.

Gregory van der Wiel is also training with the club and could sign a deal should he prove his fitness.

The head coach

Fred Grim tried his best to keep the club away from the drop zone last season but he couldn’t work wonders with the players at his disposal.

The former Netherlands U21 head coach is a good coach, who has been with the club since 2018.

Key Player

RKC Waalwijk will need the experience to survive and in Vurnon Anita the club have made a great signing. The versatile midfielder or defender will add leadership to the RKC line-up which will be key in their relegation battle.

Young players to watch

Cyril Ngonge (20) looked impressive playing up front for Jong PSV Eindhoven last season, scoring seven times in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. He could add pace and trickery to the RKC attack.

Ayman Azhil (19) comes in on loan from Bayer Leverkusen with a big reputation and could add some spark to the club’s midfield.

Pre-season

RKC have managed to earn two wins in pre-season, a 3-0 victory over SDC Putten and a 5-4 thriller against KV Mechelen.

They were on the end of big defeats against Ajax (6-1), Almere City (4-2) and NAC Breda (2-0). NEC were also too strong (2-1), while they also draw 1-1 against Sparta Rotterdam.

Strongest line-up

Lamprou, Nieuwpoort, Anita, Wouters, Nostlinger, Tahiri, Van der Venne, Daneels, Bilate, Ngonge, Efmorfidis

Predicted position

RKC Waalwijk were the weakest team in the league last season, and they go into the new campaign as everyone’s favourites to finish bottom of the table once again.

The club have tried to strengthen this summer but their transfers don’t look good enough to stop Grim’s side from struggling again and its likely a 17th-18th finish is looming.




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